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All Round Genius
'But what a sportsman Woosnam was! And what a contrast he provides to the pampered pygmies of contemporary sport' Daily Mail
'This is an absolutely delightful book _ Remarkable'
Steve Jones, The Times
The subject of blanket media coverage, Mick Collins' charming biography of a forgotten sporting hero captured the public imagination in hardback. Captain of Manchester City, winner of the Davis Cup, Olympic gold medallist, Lord's centurion, Gallipoli veteran, Max Woosnam was an extraordinary man whose story will delight all who read it.
'This is an absolutely delightful book _ Remarkable'
Steve Jones, The Times
The subject of blanket media coverage, Mick Collins' charming biography of a forgotten sporting hero captured the public imagination in hardback. Captain of Manchester City, winner of the Davis Cup, Olympic gold medallist, Lord's centurion, Gallipoli veteran, Max Woosnam was an extraordinary man whose story will delight all who read it.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 22, 2006
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 12, 2014
All-Round Genius – Better than David Beckham
If Max Woosnam were alive today he would be bigger than David Beckham as he had more to him than a right boot for free kicks and corners. He has competed in sports and championships the old Golden Ball can ever dream of. In All-Round Genius Mick Collins has written a very fair and very honest account of his life in sports and outside too. This book has not been written by a Manchester City fan but by a sports journalist with an eye for the truth.
Max Woosnam was born in Liverpool in September 1892 the son of Rev Canon Maxwell Woosnam one time Archdeacon of Macclesfield and canon of Chester Cathedral. He was a well educated amateur who managed to go to Cambridge and not only did he become a Cambridge Blue he was a quadruple Blue. He captained the football team, cricket team, lawn tennis and real tennis as well as being a scratch golfer. After Cambridge he played amateur football for Corinthians and Chelsea.
Woosnam was one of the first footballers to sign up for the war effort and fought in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. After the war he returned playing amateur football before signing for Manchester City who were a professional team but he continues to play as an amateur. He also had a very varied and busy life outside of football as he represented Great Britain at the 1920 Olympic Games winning a Gold and Silver medals in tennis, he also won a Wimbledon doubles title as well as played in the Davis Cup.
One of my favourite stories of Woosnam was that he excelled at table tennis and promoted it widely. In due course he played Charlie Chaplin and beat him using a butter knife rather than a bat! It also mentioned how he fell out with many of his former fans when he broke a strike to drive a bus during the General Strike of 1929.
This is a fascinating book well worth reading and enjoying to see there was someone who will always be better than Beckham but will always be a unknown to many.
If Max Woosnam were alive today he would be bigger than David Beckham as he had more to him than a right boot for free kicks and corners. He has competed in sports and championships the old Golden Ball can ever dream of. In All-Round Genius Mick Collins has written a very fair and very honest account of his life in sports and outside too. This book has not been written by a Manchester City fan but by a sports journalist with an eye for the truth.
Max Woosnam was born in Liverpool in September 1892 the son of Rev Canon Maxwell Woosnam one time Archdeacon of Macclesfield and canon of Chester Cathedral. He was a well educated amateur who managed to go to Cambridge and not only did he become a Cambridge Blue he was a quadruple Blue. He captained the football team, cricket team, lawn tennis and real tennis as well as being a scratch golfer. After Cambridge he played amateur football for Corinthians and Chelsea.
Woosnam was one of the first footballers to sign up for the war effort and fought in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. After the war he returned playing amateur football before signing for Manchester City who were a professional team but he continues to play as an amateur. He also had a very varied and busy life outside of football as he represented Great Britain at the 1920 Olympic Games winning a Gold and Silver medals in tennis, he also won a Wimbledon doubles title as well as played in the Davis Cup.
One of my favourite stories of Woosnam was that he excelled at table tennis and promoted it widely. In due course he played Charlie Chaplin and beat him using a butter knife rather than a bat! It also mentioned how he fell out with many of his former fans when he broke a strike to drive a bus during the General Strike of 1929.
This is a fascinating book well worth reading and enjoying to see there was someone who will always be better than Beckham but will always be a unknown to many.
June 20, 2025
Perks of long train journey got to finish this quickly. Amazing sportsman, not so great father…Can’t imagine how physical football was back then. Loved how lowkey fantastic he was at golf despite not pursuing it!
April 12, 2020
An interesting read on a subject which I do not normally concern myself with. Unsure as to how I acquired the book - I did not buy it - it was, nonetheless, duly read and greatly enjoyed as a change. Max Woosnam was a fascinating character and this biography entertaining and enlightening.
February 21, 2022
A fantastic read about a real character in many sports. The kind of achievements that today would be impossible.
March 30, 2008
I picked this up and read the whole of it at my local library. The book chronicles the amazing, and largely forgotten story of Max Woosnam, one of the last of the great amateur sportsmen. His list of accomplishments are truly mind-boggling - Olympic gold medalist and Wimbledon champion in men's tennis doubles; Manchester City and England captain (for one match) in football; represented Oxford University at Cricket; sometime expert table tennis player - Max could literally do it all.
An entertaining enough read chronicling Max's life and achievements, including a short interregnum serving in the First World War. A little more detail would have been appreciated, particularly in examining in the football injury that slowly led to his withdrawal from sporting life. But this is a book about a fascinating and undeservedly neglected and forgotten man. A paean to a lost age.
An entertaining enough read chronicling Max's life and achievements, including a short interregnum serving in the First World War. A little more detail would have been appreciated, particularly in examining in the football injury that slowly led to his withdrawal from sporting life. But this is a book about a fascinating and undeservedly neglected and forgotten man. A paean to a lost age.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews